In the top ten list of the most powerful people, our POTUS, the honorable and esteemed, Barack Obama ranked #1, Bill Clinton was #31, while Ex Senator Larry Craig edged out former noted economist GWB for the 10,071 spot

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Reagan's Ratings While He Was in Office

Reagan was not an extraordinarily well-regarded president during his eight years in office. He averaged a 53% job approval rating during his presidency, slightly below average for all U.S. presidents for which Gallup has recorded job approval ratings.

Reagan's ratings were higher than the averages of his three immediate predecessors -- Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon, supporting the arguments of those who contend that one of Reagan's major contributions was to restore confidence in the presidency after the battering it took in the 1970s. But the two presidents who followed Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, each had higher average ratings than Reagan, as did three earlier presidents -- Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy, and Dwight Eisenhower.

That's not to say Reagan didn't have periods of time during his administration in which he received solidly impressive ratings. He did. But Reagan was bedeviled at the beginning of his administration by Americans' major concerns about the economy, and at the end of his administration by public concerns about the Iran-Contra affair.

In the most general sense, Americans' approval of the job being done by Reagan as president during his eight years in office can be described as a bell-shaped curve of sorts, with Reagan's ratings starting low, rising in late 1983 and in 1984 (just in time for his successful 1984 re-election bid), and then falling in the last years of his administration.

Reagan came into office on a fairly high note, with initial job approval ratings as high as 60% by mid-March 1981. Then, on March 30, Reagan was shot on the streets of Washington by John Hinckley Jr., and the resulting concern and sympathy helped lift his ratings to 68% by May. But even as Reagan personally recovered from his wounds, the public's concerns about the bad economy did not, and the president's ratings began to fall as each month went by.

By the end of 1981, Reagan's job approval rating had drifted down to 49%.

Things got worse for Reagan in 1982. The public's view of the economy remained sour, and the president's ratings during 1982 stayed concomitantly low, in the 40% range, ending the year at 41%. The 1982 midterm elections were not good ones for Reagan and for the GOP. The Republicans lost about 25 seats in the House.

A clear cause for all of this was the economy. Still, Gallup analysts at the time presciently noted that there was some cause for optimism for Reagan:

While only one third approve of the way he is handling the economy, close to half express some degree of confidence that he will do the right thing with regard to the economy.

Indeed, although 1983 began for Reagan with a 35% job approval rating -- the worst of his administration -- things started to look better.

His ratings moved back above 50% by November 1983 -- not only because the economy was picking up, but also in part as a result of rally effects associated with the U.S. invasion of Grenada and the terrorist explosion that killed 241 American Marines in Beirut, Lebanon.

By 1984, Reagan's job approval ratings were consistently above the 50% line that is a symbolic standard for an incumbent president seeking re-election. In Gallup's last October poll before the November 1984 election, Reagan received a 58% job approval rating, and he went on to soundly defeat Democratic nominee Walter Mondale by a 59% to 41% popular vote margin, receiving 525 electoral votes to Mondale's 13.

The highest job approval rating of the Reagan administration was 68% -- reached twice, in May 1981 and as previously indicated, in May 1986. As noted, the low point was 35% in January 1983.

<span style='font-size: 20pt'>Even during the 1982 recession, when only about 4 in 10 Americans approved of the job Reagan was doing as president,</span> 6 in 10 Americans rated him on the positive end of a 10-point rating scale.</div></div>

wolfdancer

11-12-2009, 12:49 PM

I was never a fan of RR's to begin with, then "hated" him as he had my cousin, an air controller fired ( the strikers were also blackballed ), even though the record showed he spoke up against the strike at the Union meeting.
A few lean years followed for my cousin, but he is now nearing retirement...still a few years to go, after a career in Fed. Law Enforcement. We've recently "hooked up" again, exchanging emails and reminiscing about them good old days....

eg8r

11-12-2009, 05:40 PM

But in lapdog's fuzzy math somehow Clinton is ranked #31 in a top ten list. LOL, since that doesn't make any sense neither does W's 10k number.

I do agree right or wrong, most people around the world would listen to Clinton over W. W was not a great President other than the fact that he did not stand down like Clinton and allow terrorists to run all over our country.

eg8r

wolfdancer

11-12-2009, 06:04 PM

it's obvious your hatred of others and your superiority complex, (I guess you put your pants on two legs at a time) interferes with your comprehension, dickweed.
The mention of Bill and the azzhole were outside of the context of the top ten list.
Thank the Lord, the weekend is coming up and since you won't be getting paid to surf the net,enabling us to enjoy the brief respite from your vitriol. in the meantime ....GF*

eg8r

11-13-2009, 08:08 AM

LOL, sorry gramps but my comprehension was just fine. It was you that mentioned a top ten list and then talked about position 30 something and 10k.

eg8r

llotter

11-13-2009, 08:39 AM

I would bet that if given the choice, more Americans would prefer Bush running our foreign policy than The Moron. And for that matter, that might also hold true of domestic policy as well.

wolfdancer

11-13-2009, 03:23 PM

Only mistake I made, that i can see, grasshopper, was to use a comma instead of a period in the post. Even a HS sophomore could see that, after making my point re: the top ten list, I was now commenting on people that one might have expected to be included on that list. That you need everything spelled out for you, is explained in the left brain/right brain theory

wolfdancer

11-13-2009, 03:33 PM

Say what????
I'm speechless,after reading that commentary.
You off of your meds again????

All he meds this guy really needs Jack is Golytely, you know, from the colonoscopys,,,maybe a 50 gallon drum though! He'd be like a fart in the air after that treatment, painful to experience, but totally gone afterwards, just disappearing entirely with many, many flushes. Stock up on Charmin though Good Buddy ! ;-) sid

wolfdancer

11-13-2009, 05:11 PM

/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
It would be even funnier, if he didn't have that "holier and smarter then thou" belief.
I believe that our enemies rejoice when reading this kind of "dividing the country along political lines" crap.
But, in the past, we have always been able to forget our differences and unite when threatened.
Look at how the isolationists(Republicans?) originally opposed our involvement in "Europe's War"...thank God we had FDR in the oval office at the time, or we would all be speaking German and working without pay for the Bush's, Rockefellers, or Harrimans.